5 Virgin America In-Flight Gadgets That Should Be on Every Flight

Weve gone inside Boeings 787 Dreamliner and the jumbo Airbus A380, but now transportation pioneer Richard Branson is taking on the high-tech heavy hitters of the U.S. skyways with Virgin America, which launched its inaugural flights yesterday. From lavatory lounge music to LED mood lighting that mimics the phases of a Space Age sunset, Virgin has decked out a fleet of Airbus A320s to make them the sexiest commercial aircraft yetand maybe the smartest.

Airborne Internet

A subsidiary of Branson's TV-laden Virgin Atlantic empire across the pond, Virgin America features an In-Flight Entertainment system (IFE) with a 9-in., 1024 x 600 seatback touchscreen--for every passenger. JetBlue-esque live satellite TV meets over 3000 MP3s and 25 pay-per-view movies in this Linux-based but in-house-developed system, affectionately termed "Red." And, just like its next-generation competitors, Virgin will tap into the Internet, with a wireless signal transmitted via file servers and ADRs (Airborne Decoder Receivers) hidden in the belly of the craft. These devices take satellite signals and convert them so the IFE can stream to the network of seat monitors. There are dual 802.11b Wi-Fi access points, though they're only broadcasting SSIDs for now--full connectivity is pending Federal Administration Administration approval and should be streaming by next year. Even the flight attendants will be connected with Wi-Fi-enabled handhelds that make the classic silhouette call button look just about as antiquated as a hotel's front-desk bell. But who needs a bell when you have fresh food--yes, food--on demand at the touch of a screen?

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Portable Voltage

Sick of racing to finish your expense report at 35,000 feet before your laptop dies? Can't keep pretending your iPod has battery life left to avoid the chatterbox next to you? Virgin finally brings to the skies what Amtrak has had on the rails for years: 110-volt AC outlets, with enough power for two jacks for every three seats (an energy hedge we can almost stomach). With each seat-side socket comes a USB port and an Ethernet port that connect you into a LAN with all other passengers. Which brings us to ...

More From Popular Mechanics

Flying Chat Rooms

Even at cruising altitude, there's no escaping the MySpace-AIM phenomenon of connectivity. Virgin's "Red" system not only plugs you into an outlet and the Internet, it connects you with an airborne social network that allows you to chat with fellow passengers on a private-, group- or plane-wide scale. Hit Talk on the touchscreen menu and you click into a map of flight-mates, each seat marked by a screen name and profile, with the option to "befriend." If you're instant-message-inhibited, you can stick to the TV, where each channel has its own private chat room to discuss the current show. Something to really talk about: Google Maps is built into the entertainment system--for mid-air itinerary planning, sure, but also for real-time tracking of your plane. Zoom down below eight times over--rather than crane your neck from the aisle seat.

Open-Source Gaming

As a Linux platform, the aircraft's IFE is open-source savvy. With a full gaming control pad, qwerty keyboard and streaming graphics, the system puts geek-infamous first-person shooter Doom aloft. Virgin promises a small handful of other open-source video games and kid's programs, plus an open-source game development competition, inviting programmers to compete for a spot in the sky.

Green Contrails

Branson has long been a champion of a different sort of technology--one geared toward environmental sustainability. Virgin Atlantic plans to test the first biofuel-powered commercial aircraft next year, and recently ordered a small fleet of Boeing Dreamliners. These 787s burn about 27 percent less fuel per passenger than the inaugural Airbus planes of Virgin America and might just make their way into the U.S. fleet. In the meantime, Virgin America has turned to "fixed electrical ground power" at the gates of its limited destinations--a hub in San Francisco and flights from New York City to Los Angeles--in an attempt to avoid using the aircraft's fuel-guzzling auxiliary power units. Plus, Branson has implemented new engine-washing systems that reduce carbon emissions. All that's missing now is a functional airport.